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All posts for the month March, 2009

4/2 New ‘Eternal’

Tess tries to kill Davis by blowing up his truck. However, after he escapes, she realizes she needs help to destroy him and turns to Clark. Tess reveals Davis’ secret childhood with the Luthors and hints that she knows Clark’s true identity.

PremiereWatch: Jesse McCartney goes ‘Greek’

“Greek” returned tonight just in time for spring break with an episode designed to tie up loose ends from last year and spring all of the characters forward for the shenanigans to come this season. Despite all of the talk of change at the beginning, things are pretty much status quo by the end of the hour.

Casey spent her summer at her supposedly awesome D.C. political internship, but it quickly becomes apparent that her internship wasn’t awesome at all. She tries to keep this a secret from everyone out of embarrassment that she wasn’t cut out for the job, even going so far as to get her own apartment away from the sorority house and Ashleigh in order to become a more serious student in order to prepare her for the real world she will soon face. After working with Ashley and Cappie to put Frannie, Rebecca and their newly formed Iota Kappa Iota (Ashley: “Icky?” Frannie: “No, I Kaps!”) out of business, Casey realizes she can’t stay away from the sorority life she loves and decides to give up her apartment, move back into the sorority house and become rush chair. As for Rebecca’s role in the Ickys? Turns out she’s actually a double agent working for ZBZ in order to sabotage Frannie’s new venture. I love it!

Rusty spent his summer as a camp counselor but is anxious to get back to school and to his new life living at the Kappa Tau house. He goes to great lengths in an attempt to make living at a fraternity house jive with his heavy honors engineering course load, but in the end simply can’t find a way to make it work and ends up living with Dale (who is dealing with roommate issues of his own) in Casey’s now vacant off-campus apartment. It’s a little disappointing to have Rusty end up in the same situation he started in, but let’s face it: “Greek” just isn’t “Greek” without Rusty and Dale as roommates.

As for the boys of Kappa Tau and Omega Chi, they are busy being diametric opposites and both candidates to recruit the new Big Man on Campus Andy (played by Jesse McCartney). Andy is friends with Calvin and one of the top football recruits in the nation, which is really hard to believe considering Jesse McCartney is so tiny. But let’s just go with it! Calvin is sure Andy will be an Omega Chi, but from the way he was loving the Kappa Tau parties it looks like Evan and Omegas have a fight on their hands. As long as they’re not fighting over Casey again, I’m all for it.

Random thoughts:

I loved the in-joke of seeing Ken Marino as a counselor at Rusty’s summer camp. If you haven’t seen “Wet Hot American Summer”, please do so immediately.

Casey was the Elle Woods of her internship. Hee!

Frannie’s using Evan like a piggy bank to back her new sorority. How long until that arrangement goes completely south? One, two episodes?

I’m totally down with Calvin warning Evan to stay away from Rusty. That paddle to the face last year was just wrong.

Favorite quotes:

“I guess you can say that when it comes to little boys, I have the touch.” – Rusty, talking about his success as a camp counselor

“My roommate…is Canadian. How am I supposed to sleep at night with some foreigner waving his alien flag in what’s obviously an act of anti-American aggression?” – Dale, about his new honors engineering roomie

I remember the Supernatural producers saying last summer that we’d be seeing Steven Williams‘ Rufus this season — yet so far, nothing. Is that still happening? — MATT: In a word, sorta. The boys will hear from Rufus in Episode 21, which is titled “When the Levee Breaks” and airs May 7. Source:TV Guide

Episode 4.22: Lucifer Rising (Season finale) Airdate: May 14, 2009

Ausiello updated his asterix hint to this: Sam learns in the season finale that ******i** ****** is the ***** **** that has ** ** broken ****** ******* can ***e. Source: The Ausiello Files [A possible answer to the riddle is “Sam learns in the season finale that murdering ****** is the final seal that has to be broken before Lucifer can rise.” A few site visitors believe that the person who must be killed is “Lilith”. Another version of the possible answer with “defeating” instead of “murdering” as Brandon suggested.]

Those who think they have Sam and Dean all figured out by now will be rather surprised by their individual reactions to the introduction of their “new brother,” Adam. (TV Guide)

Please tell me that the big Supernatural death is not Bobby.
All we can say is that the big Supernatural death is very sad, but not entirely unpredictable. Source: Kristin on E!Online

Ariel in Baltimore: Will Ruby or Anna be regulars next year on Supernatural? I want the guys to finally start building families of their own!
While Castiel (Misha Collins) is confirmed to be a regular for Supernatural season five, all we can say about Anna and Ruby is that there are a couple deaths in the finale, and that Sam’s demon girlfriend and Dean’s angelic friend with benefits are not guaranteed to be safe.

Marta in Porto, Portugal: Are we going to see John Winchester this season on Supernatural? Not in the flesh, and not even in the spiritual realm, but we do see John Winchester on Supernatural in photographic form before the end of the season. Source: Kristin on E!Online

LP) Ending with some Supernatural questions; what can you tell us about Bobby’s role for the remainder of the season?

JB) Bobby’s in the last three episodes of the season and I’m most prominent in the next-to-last episode. Three fourths of the scenes probably take place in Bobby’s house so, I’m heavily involved in that one. And I’m… briefly involved in the finale. I mean, not terribly briefly but… anyway. I’m in it – which, I’m happy about because I’ve done the season finale of every season so it’s kind of a tradition.

LP) What does season five [of “Supernatural”] hold in store for Bobby Singer? [addressing speculation that Jim’s character may not live past the season 4 finale]

JB) I… don’t… think I can say. [coyly] Gosh I don’t know what to say. I’d love to help ya out, but… I’m not sure what I could say that would be both truthful and helpful.

LP) No comment?

JB) That’s… probably the best thing I could say.

LP) Any other “Supernatural” spoilers you can drop for us?

JB) Let’s just say that the conflict between Sam and Dean comes to a real head, and over the course of those three episodes it really comes to its boiling point and beyond. By the next-to-last episode and the last one, it’s bubbling over and things change. The next-to-last episode is mainly Bobby and Dean trying to confront the differences between Dean and Sam and so, there’s a lot of Bobby and Dean on one side and Sam on the other. Source:Celebrity Cafe

Supernatural: Episode Titles for the End of Season 4

Supernatural is heading into the home stretch of season 4. With only five episodes left, every minute counts as Sam and Dean Winchester race to stop Lilith from breaking the remaining 66 Seals and bringing Lucifer to Earth.

Unfortunately, fans may not get to see these final episodes uninterrupted. Early, unconfirmed reports suggest that more breaks are scheduled, and the scheduling of these final episodes might leave fans hanging for longer than they’d like. There are also recently released episode titles for all the remaining episodes, though they might give away more than you’d like.

SPOILER WARNING: Read no further if you don’t want to know what the final Supernatural episodes are called.

This Thursday brings the highly meta “The Monster at the End of This Book,” in which Sam and Dean discover a book series called Supernatural about themselves. That paradox will leave fans scratching their heads for three weeks, because Supernatural is taking yet another break.

The next batch of episodes return April 23 with “Jump the Shark,” and based on that title, fans could be in for a third straight “funny” episode. However, that paves the way for the final three very serious-sounding episodes.

April 30 brings “The Rapture.” This religious title certainly suggests that the angels will play a key role as Dean nears his ultimate destiny.

The penultimate episode of the season airs on May 7 and is called “When the Levees Break.” That bodes poorly for the Winchesters as it portends plenty of bad things ahead.

According to a blog post on Saving Faith’s Sandbox, the next week will be excruciating for Supernatural fans as the show will take yet another break on May 14. It’s not until the next week, May 21, that the Supernatural season 4 finale will air.

But it’s a big one, because the episode is called “Lucifer Rising.” Aside from being a brilliant companion title to the season premiere, “Lazarus Rising,” this episode promises to deliver what the whole season has been leading up to. Will Lucifer rise? Given this show’s history with season finales, I’d have to bet ‘Yes.”

Based on absolutely nothing but my own wild speculation, here’s my current theory: in the final moments of the season, Lucifer rises after the final Seal is broken. However, in order to walk the Earth, Lucifer must take a human body just like all the other demons. What body does he choose? Wile Sam might be the obvious guess, I’m leaning towards the even cooler possibility that Lucifer will take the form of John Winchester. I know the evil father is a bit of a cliche, but it could still be undeniable cool.

Do you think Lucifer will walk the Earth? And if so, whose body will he possess?

CASTIEL RETURNS TO HIS HUMAN FORM — Castiel (Misha Collins) appears to Dean (Jensen Ackles) in a dream and says he has something important to tell him but they need to meet somewhere private. Dean and Sam (Jared Padalecki) go searching for Castiel but instead find Jimmy, Castiel’s human vessel, who has only a spotty recollection of being an angel. Jimmy wants to return to his family and normal life, but Dean and Sam are concerned about his safety.

ANOTHER WINCHESTER BROTHER EMERGES — A 19-year-old boy named Adam (guest star Jake Abel) calls Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) looking for John Winchester, claiming to be his son. Dean and Sam meet Adam, assuming he’s a demon trying to lure then into a trap. However, they find out that John was indeed the boy’s father and Adam tells them of his “normal” upbringing, which infuriates Dean. Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin.

Supernatural: Video Clip from “The Monster at the End of This Book”

4/2 New ‘The Monster at the End of This Book’

Sam and Dean are shocked to discover a series of comic books titled Supernatural that accurately detail their lives as demon hunters. They track down the writer, Carver Edlund (guest star Rob Benedict), who explains he has visions of the brothers that he then turns into comic books. Chuck reveals that Lilith (guest star Katherine Boecher) is coming and she has a plan for Sam.

Last time in “It’s a Terrible Life” Supernatural took a pleasant detour from the chilliness and despair of the previous two episodes. The colorful, offbeat story fans got instead did not have driven the global plotline forward in a way that makes you scream at the TV so loudly your neighbors bang on the wall. But it was a particularly fun chance to see the characters in a unique situation and to riff on Sam and Dean’s relationship.

Next week the detour continues in “The Monster at the End of This Book” when the Winchester brothers discover that a pulp fiction author is chronicling their story in a series of horror novels. In light of recent signs of the apocalypse they’ll no doubt find it disturbing that the series ends in Dean’s damnation.

The CW released a new video today from next week’s episode, a scene from “The Monster at the End of This Book.” The new scene plays up the comedy of the episode, as the paperback writer’s fictional characters show up at his doorstep demanding answers. It’s a strange new twist on the classic story Six Characters in Search of an Author, later loosely adapted into a classic episode of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone.

Previously on One Tree Hill: A dog ate Dan’s heart, so he gave up on trying to get a new one. Haley quit her job and Lucas’ movie went belly-up, causing the posible end to Julian and Brooke’s romance. Jack moved in with Brooke and Sam while Deb dumped Skills.

Lucas has nightmares about Peyton’s health, but he’s woken up by Nathan, wanting to go play some basketball at the River Court. Jamie scores a ton of baskets as Nathan complains about how hard being a dad is because Jamie’s asking questions about Keith.
Once again, Nathan does everything he possibly can to avoid being a real dad by asking Lucas to talk to Jamie for him. For the past few episodes, Nathan has done everything he can to avoid hanging out with Jamie. Did he accidentally run over Chester with the car?

The three Scott boys visit Keith’s old auto shop. Jamie runs around like a kid in a candy shop without any supervision. The three chat about girls, and Lucas outs Nathan for manipulating Haley in order to get her to go out with him. Nathan mocks Jamie’s crush on his teacher, but the conversation really comes to an end when Jamie asks what happened to Aunt Lindsey.

Jamie puts on some grease facial hair to resemble a baby Keith. The poor parenting decisions pile up when they let Jamie get behind the wheel of the car to start it up. Their night ends with Jamie asking the truly hard question: is it OK for him to still care about Grandpa Dan even though he killed Keith?

Lucas says it is before Jamie delivers the metaphor of the night. He likes the auto shop because it’s a place where you bring something that’s broken and it gets fixed. That anvil pounding you over the head is this week’s script…..READ FULL RECAP AT BUDDY TV

We open on a New York morning, and Serena’s on the phone with Blair. Blair’s lying about where she is, saying she’s at home with Dorota when she’s really out on the street walking somewhere—wonder why?

Out in Brooklyn, Dan basks in his own importance with his first “fan letter” and his entry package to Yale. The Humphreys make jokes about how they were sure Jenny’s bad life choices would have led to her death before age 16, which she turns tomorrow. They head over to the van der Woodsens’ in Manhattan for breakfast before school, which means it must be about 5 AM right now. Which doesn’t stop Vanessa from popping in to worry about why Nate hasn’t called her in a week and let her apologize for getting mad at him last week. Just then, she gets an email from Nate asking her to stop by in half an hour.

Out on the street, Serena runs into Poppy, who is so pleased to tell Serena about her glorious life with her boyfriend Gabriel in Spain. They’re only in New York for 48 hours. Serena “updates” Poppy on her life, and Poppy notes that everything is exactly the same as when they last saw each other. Serena says she’s throwing a Sweet Sixteen party for a friend, and Poppy is unimpressed. She brushes Serena and her “little party” off, and Serena is sad to realize how boring and cyclical her life is.

The Humphreys get to the VDWs’ for breakfast. Lily (Kelly Rutherford) is so clearly pregnant, but maybe they’re trying to make it look like she has an eating problem, what with the massive spread of carbs she’s got on her kitchen island. The fam discusses Jenny’s birthday. Lily and S pitch their surprise: a lovely party with a caterer and a DJ. Jenny says she’d rather have a quiet night at home with the family and two nerds from her Chemistry class, with chili and board games. The VDWs say they will cancel the good party if she really wants them to. Rufus looks at the paperwork Dan gave him and sees that his Financial Aid application to Yale has been denied.

At school, S doesn’t understand why Little J doesn’t want a big party, and Eric speculates that maybe she’s worried no one would show up. The Plastics walk up to Serena and snidely thank her for canceling her party so they don’t need to pretend to feel bad for going to Penelope’s instead. Not one to be outdone by the Girls of the Steps, Serena decides to bring in the big guns, and calls Poppy.

Vanessa walks to Nate’s house and sees B and Nate together leaving Nate’s house, and hugging goodbye. Chuck approaches in his limo and says it’s been going all week. He’s the one who emailed her from Nate’s account (password “soccer” since fifth grade, because he had email when he was in fifth grade) and when she’s ready to do something about it, she should call him….READ FULL RECAP AT BUDDY TV

NBC-DirecTV Seals Deal on Two More Seasons of Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights is officially a go for two more 13-episode seasons, airing first on DirecTV and later on NBC, reportsVariety‘s Cynthia Littleton. (Whee!)

Star Connie Britton recently told us about the possibility of a pickup for the perpetually on-the-bubble drama, “I am feeling optimistic about it and really hopeful. As much as you feel like, ‘OK, it’s time to move on,’ the reality is that to have the opportunity to create something new with [this show] every day is just the greatest gift. It would be great if we had another season.”

And Kyle Chandler spilled a little about the shape of the seasons to come (although you should skip this part if you haven’t finishing watching season three on NBC yet!):

Bill Records / NBC

Kyle says, “Coach has been moved into the poor part of town, and we have no pool to draw from for a football team. I think it opens up [the show] to be far more representative, having more Hispanics in the show, blacks in the show. And then also just being the underdogs going up against my old show where my wife is still principal.”

Any chance Tami Taylor will follow Coach to the wrong side of the tracks in seasons four and five? Connie Britton has her theories! “I think it would be interesting if she did, but it may be too difficult to depict in the show. It could also be interesting if I also go over there, and we’re both struggling at this school that is just falling apart.”

Mind you none of this is set in stone, as Connie is quick to point out, “We generally leave that stuff to the writers because their ideas are going to be 10 times better than anything I’d have an idea for!” Pshaw!

Sadly, most of the current castmembers, include Taylor Kitsch‘s Riggins, Minka Kelly‘s Lyla, Zach Gilford‘s Matt Saracen and Adrianne Palicki‘s Tyra, play graduating seniors who are likely to eventuallyexit and move on with their lives on and offscreen.

Says Kyle of the rotation, “They told us that that was going to be the case when we started the show—that people weren’t going to stay on the show for seven years and be freshmen. People who have gone off the show, they knew what was going on. It does give a chance for new people to come on and for the show to be far more organic in that way, although some of the folks who are leaving I really wish they weren’t, obviously.”

Tell us this isn’t the best news you’ve heard all day? No, seriously, tell us in the comments, and we expect you to prove, with facts and stuff, that something else better happened!

Season three of Friday Night Lights is now airing Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

—Additional reporting by Megan Masters

Is Friday Night Lights is going to be back! Any word on what the potential season four will bring?

As a matter of fact, we were just able to get some great insights into next season from the FNL castmembers themselves! Kyle Chandler tells us that his transfer across town may open up some new doors for the people of Dillon. “Coach has been moved into the poor part of town, and we have no pool to draw from for a football team. I think it opens up [the show] to be far more representative, having more Hispanics in the show, blacks in the show. And then also just being the underdogs going up against my old show where my wife is still principal.” Any chance Tami Taylor will follow Coach to the wrong side of the tracks? Connie Britton has her theories! “I think it would be interesting if she did, but it may be too difficult to depict in the show. It could also be interesting if I also go over there and we’re both struggling at this school that is just falling apart.” Mind you none of this is set in stone, as Connie is quick to point out, “We generally leave that stuff to the writers because their ideas are going to be 10 times better than anything I’d have an idea for!” Pshaw! Source: Kristin on E!Online

Izzie Or Isn’t She? Heigl Breaks Silence on Grey’s Exit Talk

This particular doctor is in, if Shonda Rhimes has plans to keep her around. So said Katherine Heigl at a party marking Grey’s Anatomy‘s 100th episode, where she for the first time addressed the rumor that Dr. Isobel Stevens is being written off of the show at season’s end.

Should Grey’s keep Izzie alive and kicking around the halls of Seattle Grace, “I’m there,” Heigl told the Associated Press at the ABC serial’s Friday celebration.

Talk of Heigl’s Grey’s days being numbered began last summer, when she appeared to dis the show’s writers for not giving her Emmy-caliber material; Rhimes nipped that buzz in the bud in September. The rumor was resurrected last month when James Pickens Jr. told reporters that both Heigl and T.R. Knight would be leaving the show; Rhimes was quick to dismiss Pickens’ “out of context” quote as “not true.”

Heigl claims that she herself was and is still in the dark. “I was assuming that [Izzie was being written off] and I got a lot of shrugged shoulders and shakes of the head…. I don’t know if that’s a yes or a no,” she told the AP. “No one will tell me, and I don’t know how this is going to go.”

Specifically speaking of her ailing alter ego’s battle with a now-excised brain tumor, Heigl said, “I don’t know if I live or die.”

Heigl is increasingly in demand on the silver screen, where she has had one big success with Knocked Up, and next stars in the rom-com The Ugly Truth, followed by Five Killers (opposite Ashton Kutcher). Is she truly willing to juggle a TV gig with film roles? Says the actress, “I’m more than happy to make that compromise.”

Grey’s creator Rhimes declined to offer the AP a comment on Izzie’s future.

Grey’s Anatomy: Is Izzie Going to Live After All? Katherine Heigl Speaks

In an article posted by our friends at the HuffPo, Katherine Heigl says she might stay on Grey’s Anatomy (or at least that it’s not for sure that she’ll go), and show runner Shonda Rhimes spills that the show’s 100th episode features the wedding of a twosome you love.

According the report from the show’s 100th-episode party, Heigl says of her future on the show and the fate of her imperiled character Izzie Stevens, “I was assuming that [my character’s days were numbered] at one point and I got a lot of shrugged shoulders and shakes of the head, so I don’t know if that’s a yes or a no. No one will tell me and I don’t know how this is going to go. I don’t know if I live or die. I don’t know how Izzie fares.”

Despite a slow start and the whole dead Denny debacle (we love you Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Izzie’s cancer storyline is at the center of Anatomy‘s current creative renaissance, and right about now the fans are rooting for Iz to live.

So, if a wedding is scheduled to cap off this era in the show’s history, who gets the honors? Well, here’s what Shonda said about that:

“The only thing I’ll tell you about the 100th is that it takes place on Meredith and Derek’s wedding day.”

Awww…after five years of on-again, off-again romance, Mer and Der are about to get the ultimate on-again treatment. Will Mer’s wedding day go better than Cristina’s big day with Burke?

For the record, we’re voting against lightning strikes, strokes at the altar or the shocking returns of secret spouses. Do you think they can pull it off? And are you pulling for Izzie Stevens to live and Katherine Heigl to stay with the show?

LOS ANGELES — Katherine Heigl said Friday she’s ready to stay with “Grey’s Anatomy” and the decision rests with the show.

Attending a studio party to mark the ABC medical drama’s 100th episode, Heigl said it’s premature to think her days as Dr. Izzie Stevens are numbered.

“I was assuming that at one point and I got a lot of shrugged shoulders and shakes of the head, so I don’t know if that’s a yes or a no. No one will tell me and I don’t know how this is going to go,” Heigl said, noting series creator Shonda Rhimes’ passion for plot secrecy.

“I don’t know if I live or die. I don’t know how Izzie fares,” said the actress, who’s played the character since the show debuted in 2005.

“I’m there” if Izzie remains part of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Heigl said. She called the set “one of my favorite places to be” and said her colleagues are also friends.

She and fellow cast members, including Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey) and Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shepherd), were on hand for the celebration that included a cake decorated with scalpels and syringes made out of icing.

Rhimes, who’s also an executive producer for the show, called the milestone a “huge accomplishment” and thanked the cast and crew for their efforts.

In an interview, she dropped a tantalizing clue about the episode airing May 7.

“The only thing I’ll tell you about the 100th is that it takes place on Meredith and Derek’s wedding day,” Rhimes said. “That’s big … and that’s all I’m going to say.”

On Thursday’s episode, Izzie was seen surviving brain surgery. There’s been speculation that Heigl wants to pursue her blossoming film career (“Knocked Up,” the upcoming “The Ugly Truth”) full-time, and that her character might be killed off.

Rhimes declined comment on what would happen to Heigl’s character.

Last month, fellow cast member James Pickens Jr. said Heigl was leaving the show, along with T.R. Knight, both of whom declined comment at the time. Knight missed the studio party because he’d previously scheduled the day off, an ABC spokeswoman said.

On Friday, Heigl said she’s comfortable balancing movies and TV by working on big-screen projects during the summer hiatus for “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“I’m more than happy to make that compromise. As my agent likes to say, ‘High-class problems,'” Heigl said.

“I don’t know if I want to continue for five years working 12 months a year, but I can take at least another year or two,” she said.

Dempsey said he intends to fulfill the remaining two years on his contract with “Grey’s Anatomy and “then we’ll see what happens after that.”

Save the Date, May 7: Nice Day for a Grey’s Wedding?

At a party marking the filming of Grey’s Anatomy‘s 100th episode, series creator Shonda Rhimes confirmed that the milestone hour will air May 7 — and indicated that it might feature the nuptials of the show’s central couple.

“The only thing I’ll tell you about the 100th [episode] is that it takes place on Meredith and Derek’s wedding day,” Rhimes told the Associated Press at the show’s celebration.

“That’s big,” Rhimes underscored, “and that’s all I’m going to say.”

Of course, were one to be hyper-analytical and parse words, it’s not for certain that the Mer-Der wedding goes without a hitch. For one, it would represent a mighty short engagement (he will have only non-proposed six weeks prior). Secondly, this is Meredith and Derek we are talking about.

Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, Rhimes has previously said that the wedding taking place toward season’s end would be a “surprise.” Now, is that “surprise” as in the aforementioned short engagement or “surprise” as in the couple that emerges at the end of the aisle is not the same one that started down it?

What do you think? Will Mer-Der actually tie the knot in the May 7 episode?

3/31 New ‘Life’s a Drag’

In an attempt to get close to Liam (guest star Matt Lanter), Naomi offers to be his math tutor, but she gets more than she bargains for when he takes her out for a wild night. Silver takes a class assignment a little too far when she creates a video that documents her love for Dixon. When Silver screens the video for her fellow students, everyone, including Ryan, is shocked when they see Dixon and Silver in an intimate situation. Upon seeing the reaction of everyone around her, Silver blames Ryan for the situation. Ethan and Annie’s relationship remains rocky, but more problems arise when Adrianna reveals that Rhonda and Ethan shared a kiss at the dance. Harry and Debbie are surprised to learn that Annie quit the school play in order to spend more time with Ethan.

Dustin Milligan Done with ‘90210’

The next season of 90210would have to go on without good guy Ethan, as Entertainment Weekly has just reported that Canadian actor Dustin Milligan won’t be returning to the show this fall. He may be one-half of the series’ central super couple, but he has no power over major decisions such as this.

An insider from the series revealed that Milligan’s contract option will not be picked up for 90210‘s sophomore run. However, he might be back to wrap up his character’s story in a multi-episode arc.

Apparently, the reasons for Milligan’s departure are rooted in the creative vision of the writers and had nothing to do with financial matters. Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, the new boss of 90210, admitted to EW‘s Michael Ausiello about season 2 being “significantly” different than the first.

It looks as if it’s going to be quite a reboot, especially with Sinclair’s idea to “reconceive things visually.” She also maintained that “There are opportunities to embrace California culture visually in terms of fashion and style; I want it to be more contemporary.”

“If Gossip Girlis about youth in New York,” she explains, “I want to [make 90210] about youth in L.A. and Beverly Hills.”

Another point she’s hoping to raise is that 90210 won’t be relying on the original’s alums to boost their ratings. This could also mean a farewell to the likes of Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, and Tori Spelling. It only seems fit since writer-producer Sinclair already took the helm from the original show-running duo of Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs.

“The show tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people in its first season,” Sinclair said. “I think the center lies with the generation of kids that are in high school now. I’m not interested in casting people for stunt value.”

This goes the same for Dustin Milligan, who’ll surely be missed. “Everyone loves Ethan,” said the 90210 insider. “There was just a feeling that the character had run its course.”

‘Chuck’ 2.18 Preview: Tricia Helfer Guest Stars as Sexy Agent

When love collides with work, it can be quite messy. In the next episode of “Chuck“, as Chuck is expressing his feelings about his complicated relationship with Sarah, a sexy but heartless female agent is brought in to replace Sarah. Alex Forrest, is sent to evaluate Sarah’s performance as Chuck’s handler. This has put Sarah’s job in jeopardy that causes the sudden departure of Sarah. Meanwhile, Morgan, Jeff and Lester try to weasel their way into getting invited to Awesome’s bachelor party. “Chuck Versus Broken Heart” is aired on March 30. Tricia Helfer who played Number Six in “Battlestar Galactica” fills the role of Alex.
Nearing its end of run, “Chuck” has not been renewed by NBC. When asked on how confident he is on getting the series picked up for a third season, co-creator Josh Schwartz said “I’m optimistic. The network loves the show, but we’re in an unbelievably, the single most competitive time period on TV… But obviously the time slot is a challenge.”

Any Heroes news?
As we tipped in last week’s Heroes Redux, the bad guys are building a concentration camp for Heroes. Greg Grunberg told us, “They built that in the snow, all of those bunkers. It’s very creepy and it’s very cool.” BTW, now is a good time to tell you that without Kristin here, we don’t have enough staff to do the Heroes Redux every single week, so while it will continue, it won’t be a going concern week in and week out. (Watch With Kristin)

Greg Grunberg spilled some scoop at the Heroes wrap party. Apparently, “Someone is dying at the end of the season, and it’s going to be for real. They will not be coming back. And it’s not me. That I will tell you.” (Watch With Kristin)

And the Hunter storyline reaches its natural conclusion in what sounds like a chilling turn of events: the establishment of what Grunberg calls a “concentration camp” for Heroes. He says, “They built that in the snow, all of those bunkers. It’s very creepy and it’s very cool. They torch the place.” (Watch With Kristin)

The end of the season is as supercharged as Ando! Jack Coleman tells us, “The last five episodes are really leading up to a shocking finale. There’s a lot going on.” The extremely scoopy details of what’s to come are in Redux, but until then Greg Grunberg teases a nasty throwdown: “There’s a whole fight in a hotel room—huge—with a chair with blood all over it.” So, whose blood do you think it is? (Watch With Kristin)

Will Heroes‘ Peter ever get his real power back, where he can absorb multiple powers? — DanielTIM: “There are basically two directions,” says Heroes‘ Hiro, Masi Oka. “A lot of people are getting new levels to their powers. Like Matt Parkman, who can now draw the future. But people like Peter and Sylar perhaps have become too powerful, so they’re trying to scale it back down.” You can read Adam Bryant’s full interview with Oka here. Source: TV Guide Online

Preview of ‘Heroes’ 3.21: Sylar and Danko Team Up

‘Heroes’ episode ‘Into Asylum’ presents the merge of a psycho killer and a senior agent of the Department of Homeland Security.

The psycho serial killer is back to haunt the “Heroes” next week. Emile Danko, played by Emmy Award-winning actor Zeljko Ivanek, finds himself a surprising new ally as the game of cat and mouse continues to escalate. Now that Nathan’s ability has been revealed and he has lost control of his operation, he and Claire go into hiding in Mexico. With Emile Danko now in control of the government operation, his plan to destroy everyone with abilities is set into motion as he teams up with an unlikely partner. Meanwhile, Angela and Peter seek refuge in a church and begin to mend their broken relationship. Cristine Rose who plays Angela says that they find “somewhere special” to hide in the episode. Called “Into Asylum”, the episode airs March 30.

Ghost Whisperer Season 5 Spoilers! Time Leap 5 Years in the Future!

Ghost Whisperer Leaping Five Years in the Future: Melinda and Jim’s Son Aidan Lucus will be 5, Casting Under Way

A Ghost Whisperer insider confirms that producers of the CBS drama are toying with the idea of kicking the new season off five years into the future. The move would allow the show to introduce Jim and Melinda’s son as a pre-schooler instead of as a newborn. As you’ll recall, the season ended with Melinda learning that her offspring would possess psychic powers even greater than her own. Probably a tough story to do with a burping, teething toddler. Source:The Ausiello Files

Episode 5.01: Season Premiere Airdate: September 2009

Casting for 5-year-old Aiden Clancy have begun. As said in spoilers below, the show is planning a five-year jump between the season 4 finale and the season 5 premiere, meaning that Jim and Melinda’s son will be 5 years old at the start of the season. Aiden is described as a normal but sometimes serious boy who sees ghosts. When playing at a friend’s house, Aiden sees the ghost of sad and scary man who is bruised and has a cut on his head. Aiden pretends he wants to play with cars but in fact he wants a reason to get close to the ghost and talk to him. He learns that the man doesn’t remember who he is but remembers he got hurt after hurting someone else first. Melinda, who was chit chatting with the other mother, arrives on the scene and asks Aiden if he wants to go. He says no as he wants to help people just like his mother does. Source: SpoilerFix.com

[NURSE] A maternity nurse in the hospital in her early 30s, she sees Amber’s health deteriorating and urgently screams for more blood…CO-STAR, Please Submit All Ethnicities

[LABORING WOMAN] Petite woman in her late 20s at the maternity ward of the hospital, this sympathetic, rumpled pregnant woman on the verge of going into labor has been shuffling through the halls…CO-STAR, Please Submit All Ethnicities

[MALE GHOST] A fed-up 50-something male ghost, he bugs Melinda at an inopportune time, but takes the hint and vanishes.sptv050769..CO-STAR, Please Submit All Ethnicities

[FOOTBALL PLAYER] This is a high school (17-18 years old) football player, stereotypical “golden boy”, good looking and fit, died while playing in a football game many years back…CO-STAR

[AIDEN LUCUS] Caucasian, ages 5-8 ( small 7 and 8 year old ok), the son of Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy (Jennifer Love Hewitt and David Conrad), he is a regular five-year-old kid, fun loving and bright, although maybe a little more thoughtful than most boys his age. Strange things come to him at night, but he’s matter of fact about it, as any child would be who’d grown up surrounded by ghosts. Recurring Guest Star with possible series option. Source:SpoilerTV

(Click to Enlarge)

Season 5 Spoilers!!!

5×01 Sticks and Stones

5×02 Melinda on Fire

5×03 The Name’s Eli James

5×04Ghost Stories (1/2)

5×05 Ghost Stories (2/2)

Executive producer P.K. Simonds talking about Jim/Sam. “The face that everyone sees, including Melinda, when they look at ‘Jim’ is Sam’s,” he says. “But over time, people who know that Jim’s soul is in Sam’s body — including Jim himself — will see him more and more like Jim. Even in mirrors, we’ll soon stop seeing Sam’s face looking back.” (TV Guide)

Ghostly whispers about next season (yes, next!), include: Dr. Jim (?!), a certain baby’s special gifts, the “Book of Changes” and a possible Grandview space-time continuum!

Are we going to see more of the Watchers on Ghost Whisperer? Ghost Whisperer show runner P.K. Simonds says we will “definitely” see more Watchers and begin to learn about how the “very important” Book of Changes relates to their abilities: “Over the very, very long span of time that they’ve been watching, [the Watchers] have observed that history tends to repeat itself. That gives them a certain ability to make a pretty good educated guess about what the future is. They are able to know something about what’s taking shape, let’s say, in a character’s womb. And yes, it’s possible to know certain things about the gift that might be growing.”

Do you have any inside info about Ghost Whisperer? Show runner P.K. Simondsbroke the news to us that Melinda is preggers with Jim’s baby, but that’s not all he had to say about Ghost Whisperer’s newest castmember: It’s a “very special baby with an important role to play,” who will inherit unique abilities from Melinda. But Melinda’s “new, young apprentice,” says Simonds, also possesses “other kinds of gifts that we haven’t explored on the show yet.”

So great that Jim remembered himself on Ghost Whisperer, but what’s next? Do they still have two guys playing one character? According to Ghost Whisperer show runner P.K. Simonds, “We might catch a couple of glimpses” of Kenneth Mitchell, the actor who plays Sam, during the remainder of the season, but that’s it. And we’ll see David Conrad as Jim, but everyone on the show still perceives him as Sam. “He can’t resume [his Jim life] exactly, because Sam Lucas doesn’t have a license to practice emergency medicine, but obstacles are also opportunities. He finds a new direction that actually allows him to go after a specific dream he’s always had.” Like, say, Jim’s dream of medical school? Looks like Grandview residents might eventually enjoy Jim’s bedside manner via Dr. Sam Lucas… Source: Kristin on E!Online

2.23 Book of Changes (Season finale) – Airing May 2009

Melinda’s dreams and visions about her baby tie in with a mysterious “Book of Changes” that everyone wants to get their hands on. Jeremy Bishop: In his mid 30s, good-looking, tall, and mysterious, he meets with Zoe to discuss a special collection of books that are being sold to support the university. His interest in the tomes is sinister, and he can turn from pleasant and charming to ice-cold in an instant. (SpoilerTV)

“Stage Fright” – A soap opera “remote” shoot descends on Grandview, turning the town upside down and Melinda unearths a story as soapy as the show it’s disrupting. Also, a miraculous turn in Melinda’s life changes everything for her and Jim, on GHOST WHISPERER, Friday, April 24 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

“Thrilled to Death” – Melinda and Eli help a ghost settle his unfinished business with a mysterious young woman who may be involved in the death of a man, on GHOST WHISPERER, Friday, April 10 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Photograph by: Handout, Files

For most people, the day they find out they’re going to die is the worst day of their life.

But David Conrad’s reaction was one of bemusement.

After three seasons playing Jim Clancy on Ghost Whisperer, the CBS supernatural series about a woman who talks to ghosts, the writers sat down with Conrad and told him that his character was going to die in Season 4. In a shocking episode, Jim is fatally shot, leaving his psychic wife Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) to help his spirit cross over to the other side.

“The head writer said, ‘Hey, we really need to have a meeting.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, boy. Here it comes,'” Conrad remembers. “It was funny, actually — he was like, ‘We’re going to kill you off, but . . . you’re still on the show.'”

One of the perks of starring on a supernatural-themed show is that a character’s death doesn’t necessarily mean the actor should start looking for work. In this case, Jim refuses to go into the light; instead, he enters the body of another recently-deceased man, who wakes up with no memory of his past life. While other characters can only see the other man, when Melinda looks at him, she — and the viewers — see Jim, meaning Conrad gets to keep his day job.

But not everyone reacted to Jim’s death and rebirth as well as Conrad did. When news of the storyline first leaked last September, fans immediately took to the Internet to voice their intense displeasure, with most threatening to stop watching the show altogether. Even as the plot unfolded throughout the season, viewers continued to express anger.

“The new storyline is a flop. I think Melinda and Jim need to be together to make the show work, not with this crazy thing of Jim’s spirit in someone else,” one viewer posted on a Dose.ca forum. “I always looked forward to watching on Fridays, if they don’t bring Jim back (in the flesh), I will find another show to watch.”

Added another: “The writers of this plot twist should be FIRED! . . . This all better be a dream or something! If this plot isn’t done and over by the first epi of the next season, I am done with the show!”

Yet, surprisingly, Ghost Whisperer’s ratings have gone up. So far, the fourth season is averaging 10.5 million US viewers, up from 9.3 million last year; its Feb. 28 episode earned 11.54 million viewers, putting it in the No. 15 spot in the Nielsen ratings and beating out hit shows like Lost and The Amazing Race. Not bad for a Friday-night show whose fans keep threatening to revolt.

“I think they’re angry in the sense of, ‘This chicken’s terrible! And it comes in such small portions!'” says Conrad. “They’re pissed about something but only while they’re watching it. I think the writers irked people just right — and they did it in few enough episodes that viewers followed it to get what they wanted.”

The 40-year-old actor isn’t phased by any of the negative fan reaction and is focusing instead on the new challenges brought on by the storyline.

“The thing that was most interesting about it, to me, was what it gave us the opportunity to do. If I lost my memory completely about Melinda, there was the idea that they could start flirting again and courting each other,” he explains. “It was weird — when you’ve worked with someone day in and day out for a few years, it’s neat to suddenly play a scene where we don’t know each other. Playing a supportive husband and wife translates into Jennifer and I watching each others’ backs on the set. To be in a scenario where you’re not supposed to be doing that is a little awkward, a little strange. It felt sort of alien, but kind of cool.”

That attitude is exactly how Conrad approached acting in the first place. The Pittsburgh native never intended to become an actor but fell into the industry almost by accident.

“In college, I just auditioned for something out of the blue and I got the role, so I ended up falling into doing theatre in college even though I didn’t major in it,” he recalls. “It was literally, like, I walked in the door, ‘Hey, I’ve never done this before; let’s try this.’ They gave me the part and the rest was just staying in a place where somebody wanted you. That was really it. It wasn’t like, ‘I want to be an actor!’ it was just, ‘Hey, they like me.'”

Conrad continued his stage career, starring in several Shakespeare productions and various Tom Stoppard plays, before landing a lead role on the ABC drama Relativity. The show only lasted one season, but the exposure helped Conrad secure appearances on shows like Boston Public and Miss Match before finally landing his most well-known role as Jim on Ghost Whisperer in 2005. But despite his fame on the small screen, Conrad returns to the stage whenever he can.

“Almost all filmmaking is so controlled by economic forces or just the simple nature of the media. All the machines, lights, all of the cameras, have to be lugged around, it breaks up the process by which you make a performance. The scripts are rewritten by 20 people — after a while, by the nature of the way the economics are set up, I think it kind of dumbs it down. In theatre, you walk out on the stage and it’s just you. A couple of people tell you what to do, they put lights on you, and you just do it for two or three hours. There’s something great about that. It’s simple, liberating. I have to say that I prefer that kind of freedom.”

Not surprisingly, however, Conrad is most frequently recognized for Ghost Whisperer — now more than ever.

“I get stopped in airports all the time. People had said things to me before, but this was a little funny,” he says, laughing. “Most of them are like, ‘Whee! We like this!’ or ‘You’ve gotta get back to her!'”

But for Conrad, whatever the fan response, he’s just happy to see Ghost Whisperer doing so well after four years on the air.

“It’s been a good season for us. Not too many series have a jump in their fourth year. It’s rare,” he says. “After four years, you’re tired, the crew’s tired. And then, to say, ‘Wow, we’re No. 15 for the week,’ that’s a great thing. It’s like, okay, cool. We can keep doing this.”

The season finale will have multiple cliffhangers, one of which may include an appearance by Rufus and Lily’s presumed dead love child. (Michael Ausiello)

3/30 New ‘Remains of the J’

Serena decides to throw Jenny an intimate party for her sixteenth birthday, but things get way out of control when Poppy Lifton (guest star Tamara Feldman) turns the small gathering into a huge social event. In a moment of weakness, Vanessa agrees to help Chuck with a scheme having to do with Blair and Nate. Rufus learns that Dan will not receive financial aid at Yale and tries to figure out another way to cover the cost of his education.

Preview of ‘Gossip Girl’ 2.20: Remains of the J

Jenny is having a sweet sixteen party but Poppy turns it to be a huge social gathering, all new on ‘Gossip Girl’.

It’s time to put the spotlight on Jenny. In the next “Gossip Girl“, the little sister of Dan is reaching 16 and she is having a huge party where things, including a revenge, happen. The episode is called “Remains of the J” and will air March 30.

Serena decides to throw Jenny an intimate party for her sixteenth birthday, but things get way out of control when Poppy Lifton turns the small gathering into a huge social event. In a moment of weakness, Vanessa agrees to help Chuck with a scheme having to do with Blair and Nate. Rufus learns that Dan will not receive financial aid at Yale and tries to figure out another way to cover the cost of his education.

Spoiler ahead. This would be the episode where Blair and Nate kiss each other in the snow.

Clip of ‘Gossip Girl’ 2.20: Jenny Moving to Upper East Side

While preparing for her birthday party, Dan reveals a truth to Jenny that their father is moving out of Brooklyn, all new on ‘Gossip Girl’.

Clipped from the upcoming episode of “Gossip Girl” is the scene where Jenny talks to her older brother Dan about the extent of their father’s relationship to Lily van der Woodsen. Dan reveals to Jenny that Rufus is selling the lot to move to the upper east side, which means, Jenny will come along.

“Remains of the J”, the March 30 episode, is centered on Jenny and her sweet sixteen party. Serena decides to throw Jenny an intimate party for her, but things get out of control when Poppy Lifton turns the small gathering into a huge social event.

In a moment of weakness, Vanessa agrees to help Chuck with a scheme to make Blair jealous, while Vanessa sees an opportunity to make Nate jealous at the same time. Rufus learns that Dan will not receive financial aid at Yale and tries to figure out another way to cover the cost of his education. Blair reveals some unresolved feelings between her and Nate.

They’re pretty, they’re young and hot damn are they dirty! The Gossip Girlcast, known for their scandalous characters, recently struck some super sexy poses for Rolling Stone. Most notable is Blake Lively and Leighton Meester‘s come-hither cover pic, which features the duo sucking down what appears to be a mighty tasty ice cream cone together. Go behind the scenes with the Upper East Siders as they let loose in a pillow fight and jump between the sheets for their close-ups.

‘Gossip Girl’ Blast Reveals Scandalous Moments

captured by the ‘Gossip Girl’.Several incidents happening to the Upper East Siders that have been

Before “Gossip Girl” returns for another run of scandals, The CW have released several clips as an intermezzo. Dubbed “Gossip Blast” the five clips display the scandalous scenes that have been captured by the gossip girl camera.

In “Slap”, Serena comes up to Dan, giving his cheek a good taste of her palm. This is the scene which has been included in the promo of the second season that took several weeks of break earlier this month. Similarly, “Shoplift” is also taken from the promo, showing Blair breaking free from her comfort zone.

“Catfight” meanwhile, recalls the physical fight between Blair and Serena when they vie for the same college in episode “New Haven Can Wait”. Clips “No Drink” and “Quadrangle” capture the Chuck-Blair chemistry, including his attempt to win her back.

“Gossip Girl” will be back this Monday, March 30 with “Remains of the J”. Serena decides to throw Jenny an intimate party for her sixteenth birthday, but things get way out of control when Poppy Lifton turns the small gathering into a huge social event. In a moment of weakness, Vanessa agrees to help Chuck with a scheme having to do with Blair and Nate. Rufus learns that Dan will not receive financial aid at Yale and tries to figure out another way to cover the cost of his education.

Gossip Girl Blast – Slap

Gossip Girl Blast – Shoplift

Gossip Girl Blast – Catfight

Gossip Girl Blast – No Drink

Gossip Girl Blast – Quadrangle

Short of Dan and Little J, Chuck Bass and V are the last two people on Gossip Girl who would ever hook up. Right? Wrong. As you can see in the photo to the left, Vanessa and the Basshole are kissing in Monday’s all-new episode of Gossip Girl, “Remains of the J.” Could this possibly be an actual turn of events, or is it some kind of nutty dream sequence? Maybe they were just letting Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr have some fun? Sources whisper to us exclusively: “It’s real, and they do more than kissing.” Also on Monday, the sky turns orange, the earth rotates backward and locust swarms start eating the glass and steel off of skyscrapers.

Seriously, though, it’s probably a jealousy-inducing scheme designed to frak with their now-canoodling exes. According to the official description of the ep, “In a moment of weakness, Vanessa agrees to help Chuck with a scheme having to do with Blair and Nate.” For that matter, Jessica Szohr told us recently about the prospect of a reunited Nate and Blair: “Obviously, Vanessa’s a little bit hurt because that’s her boyfriend, but what comes around goes around, so I’m sure Vanessa will be all right.” Making Nate Archibald jealous by hooking up with Chuck Bass? Yeah, she’ll be all right. Will you be taking to a secret bunker in an undisclosed location or daring to face the world-shattering craziness of a Chuck and V makeout sesh?
What’s your theory of the why and how? Post in the comments.

38 (20) “Remains of the J” TBA TBA March 30, 2009
Serena decides to throw Jenny Humphrey an intimate party for her sixteenth birthday, but things get out of control when Poppy Lifton (guest star Tamara Feldman) turns the small gathering into a huge social event. In a moment of weakness, Vanessa agrees to help Chuck with a scheme to make Blair jealous, while Vanessa sees an opportunity to make Nate jealous at the same time… Rufus learns that Dan will not receive financial aid at Yale and tries to figure out another way to cover the cost of his education. Blair reveals some unresolved feeling between her and Nate.

39 (21) “Seder Anything” TBA TBA April 20, 2009
Cyrus Rose returns. When Blair and Chuck team together to expose Serena’s new beau, Nate sees a bond between them and tries to compete with Chuck by asking Blair to move in with him, which causes rivalry between the two and starts a game of “Who Will Win The Waldorf” with unexpected results.

43 (24) “Eyes Wide Open” TBA TBA May 11, 2009
No Doubt, after a four year hiatus, will appear and perform Adam & the Ants song ‘ Stand And Deliver’ for the first time on Gossip Girl. This will introduce the Gossip Girl series spin-off starring Brittany Snow.

44 (25) “The Curious Case of Bart Bass” TBA TBA May 18, 2009
Chuck learns the truth about his father. Blair chooses who she wishes to be with, shocking everyone.
(So is Blair and Chuck’s kiss just a dream and she’s stays with Nate or vice versa?)

Tonight’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy begins with an Alex voiceover. I guess Meredith got tired of talking to herself. Alex (Justin Chambers) looks in on Izzie, where she is fast asleep in her hospital room. Callie and Arizona are at Callie’s place, “dancing it out.” In Cristina’s bedroom, Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Owen are finally spending nights with each other, relaxing by watching videos of surgeries. Cristina falls asleep, so Owen turns the TV off and shuts off the lights. He dozes off, and the peppy, happy music stops, replaced by whooshing sounds of the overhead ceiling fan turning in slow motion. The screen goes dark and the next thing we know, Owen is choking Cristina. She struggles but can’t free herself. Callie walks through the door to see if everything OK, and stops him. Callie (Sara Ramirez) calls Meredith, who rushes over to see if everything is OK. Cristina assures her that she is OK, and that Owen did it by accident in the middle of a nightmare. Owen, sobbing, asks if she is alright, and she soothingly hugs him and says that everything is OK.

OK, but that is NOT OK, y’all. The choking scene scared the crap out of me. Even if it happens accidentally, choking anyone is not OK, especially if it almost results in killing that person.

The next morning, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is back at her house. She is making coffee when Derek (Patrick Dempsey) comes home. He’s still unshaven and unshowered. Without saying a word, he opens the ring box and presents the diamond ring to her. She says, “No, not like this.” She reminds him that it’s his first day back and it’s all about Izzie. He has to save Izzie.

At the hospital, Meredith chides Cristina for wearing a turtleneck to cover up her neck trauma. She doesn’t want Cristina to cover for her boyfriend because neither of them is OK. Alex wants to know if Meredith’s boyfriend is OK because he’ll be cutting into Alex’s girlfriend.

George (T.R. Knight) is upset that Izzie didn’t tell him about her illness. He doesn’t want to think about it, so he asks Callie if he can be on ortho today in order to avoid thinking about Izzie.

Bailey (Chandra Wilson) greets the residents before they go into Izzie’s room. She reminds them all that Izzie (Katherine Heigl) needs them to be her friends and not her doctors right now. There is a badass new oncologist, Dr. Swender, overseeing all of Izzie’s treatment and she tells Derek, Richard and Bailey that everything they do needs to go through Swender first. After the discussion about what her treatment will involve, the residents stand there awkwardly watching Izzie as she knits a green scarf. She reminds them that they have other patients and tells them to go save lives. The residents leave the room, and Izzie’s façade of strength fades just a wee bit.

Derek asks Alex, as Izzie’s boyfriend, if he has any questions before her brain surgery today. Alex gets avoidy and bails before going back into Izzie’s room. Later on, Richard (James Pickens Jr.) awkwardly asks Alex whether he wants to produce a sperm sample because they are harvesting Izzie’s eggs prior to radiation treatment in case she wants to have children later, and frozen eggs have a better chance of survival. Alex immediately agrees, without even discussing things over with Izzie first….READ FULL RECAP AT BUDDY TV

‘House’ exclusive: The shocking story behind last night’s big death

Here are the six things you need to know up-front about last night’s House:

• Yes, Kutner was the subject of my “suicide” blind item.
• No, his death wasn’t a figment of House’s Vicodin-impaired imagination.
• Yes, Kal Penn has left the show for good.
• No, he wasn’t fired. He asked to go. (And man, wait ’till you find out where he’s going.)
• Yes, this was the “cataclysmic” event that Hugh Laurie has been teasing all year.
• Yes, the trio at the center of this grim turn of events — exec producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs, as well Kal Penn himself — spoke to me exclusively about the surprising story behind Penn’s exit, the decision to have the seemingly well-adjusted Kutner take his own life, and whether the tragedy will drive House-Cuddy and Cameron-Chase closer together or further apart…

Part I: Kal Penn

I understand it was your decision to leave House. True?
KAL PENN: Yes. I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I’m going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They’re basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It’s similar to what I was doing on the campaign.

Will you actually be working in the White House?
PENN: This particular office is in the executive building. The White House has two buildings: the actual White House and an old Navy building called the Old Executive Office.

Are you there as long as Obama’s in office?
PENN: A lot of that stuff is up in the air. This is a relatively recent development.

Safe to say you’re taking a huge pay cut?
PENN: Oh, yeah. There’s not a lot of financial reward in these jobs. But, obviously, the opportunity to serve in a capacity like this is an incredible honor.

How long has this been in the works?
PENN: I’ve been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn’t love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service. I went to a performing arts high school, but I still took a bunch of those dorky political science classes. It’s probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more. And in ’06 I started this international studies program at Stanford, where they actually let you do most of the course work online. So it was something I could do while I was acting. And I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else. The ultimate irony, of course, is that I love being on House. There’s not a smarter group of people that I’ve been surrounded by in television. So I thought about it for a very long time before I went and talked to David and Katie.

What was that conversation like?
PENN: We had a very long discussion. And I remember David saying, “Are you telling me that you’re unhappy with the show and that you want to leave so you can go off and do a different show?” And I was like, “Not at all. I’m actually saying the exact opposite, which is I’m having an incredible time, but there’s something aching in me to do something completely different and take a break from the acting thing for a while.” And with their blessing, we were able to work it out.

Are you retiring from acting?
PENN: Not necessarily. Who’s to say where any path leads? I still have a passion for it. But for the time being, I won’t be acting.

How did you react when you found out how they were writing Kutner out?
PENN: One of the things I love about our show is you never know what’s going to happen. So that news struck me in the same way we hope it strikes the audience: there was a little bit of anger and some depression. You really go through those emotions, especially when somebody dies in that fashion. Ultimately, it was a really interesting choice for them to make. We don’t really know why he did it, unless it’s resolved in the episodes after [I left], which, of course, I’m not privy to anymore. At least in [last night’s] episode, we don’t really know why he did it. There’s no note. There’s no explanation. And as a testament to David and Katie, that’s a huge risk. ‘Cause it is going to make people upset, and it is going to piss off some of the audience. And, ultimately, in my opinion, that’s what art really is — when you can conjure up those kinds of emotions. And it’s rare nowadays to be able to do that on network television, but they managed to.

Were you disappointed that you didn’t get to shoot the requisite good-bye scenes with your co-stars?
PENN: From my selfish perspective, you want one last scene with Hugh, you want one awesome bantering scene with Peter, you want something where you and Olivia [Wilde] are doing a diagnostic together. But I had known a couple weeks beforehand [that Kutner would just abruptly commit suicide], so I was conscious in previous episodes of, ‘Okay, this is probably the last time I’m going to get to do a scene with Peter, and this is the last time I’m going to be on screen with Robert.’ And, of course, we’re all still really close friends, so I’ve seen them a ton of times since I stopped shooting.

What were your emotions like on your last day?
PENN: It’s always emotional when something incredible comes to an end. The feeling would have been very different if I was not enjoying myself, and if I didn’t love the job. But because I loved the job and the character and the people I’m working with, I think bittersweet is the probably the best way to describe it. The contrast of knowing that I want to move on and do something completely different, with the incredibly violent and incredibly depressing thing that happens to my character… I think bittersweet is the only way to describe it.

That’s the buzz.
PENN: See, I didn’t even know that. If that’s the case, yeah, it’s a bummer to not be involved in an episode like that. It’s the emotional stuff that really gets the characters riled up, so if that’s actually happening, it would be neat to see. [Pauses] Well, not see. To be part of scenes like that. [Laughs]

Part II: David Shore and Katie Jacobs

When did you first learn Kal was thinking of leaving House?
DAVID SHORE: It was very early in the process that he told us that he might [at some point] want to move on and work in politics. He has been involved in a number of other things [while working on House]. He worked very extensively for the Obama campaign and he’s been teaching at Penn. Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, ‘I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.’ And you sort of think, ‘That’s admirable, but there’s no way he’s going to do it.’ This is a good gig he’s got here.KATIE JACOBS: As time went on, it was still on his mind. And then we took a writers retreat right at the beginning of December and David sort of had this “A-ha” moment about how to both free Kal up to pursue other things and, most importantly, service where David wants to go at the end of the season with House’s story.SHORE: The fact that it happened over a long period of time allowed him to pursue his goals as a human being, but also allowed us to make it work within the confines of the show.

So why not just have Kutner take a new job at a different hospital?
SHORE: The suicide was essential to [the story]. The lack of reason behind it — the lack of answers — was what I responded to and is what I got excited about. House, the man of answers, doesn’t have an answer about this guy who he has worked with for two years.JACOBS: And he didn’t see it coming. It gets under his skin. He is the man who can’t rest until the puzzle is solved. So the idea that he worked in such close proximity to Kutner and didn’t see it coming [was an interesting story to us].SHORE: It makes him question the most important aspect of himself, which is the ability to find answers. It’s the one thing about himself that he feels good about.

If anyone on House’s team was going to kill him or herself, the likelier candidate would have been Taub (Peter Jacobson). Were you intentionally setting up a bait and switch?
SHORE: A little bit. But also, oddly enough, we wanted it to be a character who didn’t make sense — or didn’t superficially make sense. Obviously, there are reasons, but the notion that the reasons are too complicated for even House to figure out is what was drawing us to it. I like the fact that Kutner is almost the least likely guy to do this. And it gets down to the issue of, “Do we know anybody? You work with somebody for two years, but do you really know them?”

There’s an opening on House’s team now. Will Chase or Cameron fill it?
SHORE: No, there’s a different Chase-Cameron storyline coming up. We touch on it, but that’s not really where we go with it.JACOBS: There’s fallout in every part of the hospital because of this. This will affect everybody.

Are you planning to fill the position?SHORE: Not initially. It’s not going to happen this year.

There are rumors that Chase and Cameron may be getting married. Care to comment?
SHORE: No. But [Kutner’s death] does affect them as a couple. When somebody close to you dies under any circumstances, you take stock of your life and you want to go home and hug somebody. We worked hard to let everyone react [to the tragedy] in a different way.

Does it bring Cuddy and House closer together?
SHORE: The way House reacts ultimately brings House and Cuddy closer.

Any more cast changes looming this season?
JACOBS: This is the only one you’ll see this season.

Okay, Ausholes: Take a few minutes to absorb everything you’ve read before… alright, minute’s up — react away in the comments section! Oh, and be sure to check out the eleborate memorial shrine Fox has erected in Kutner’s honor.

Thanks for the intel on the House and Cuddy hookup! Any more scoop on the season finale? Yup, our House source spotted finale guest star Carl Reiner (Ocean’s Eleven) on the set, along with a half-dressed male stripper running out of the clinic dressed as a pirate. Either Cuddy is getting twice the action in one day, or House has a crazy patient on his hands. Source: Kristin on E!Online

Spoiler alert! Dr. Gregory House has bad manners. OK, so that’s not a spoiler—it’s a known fact—but in the season finale of Fox’s House, we’ll learn that his latest transgression against tact and civility is kissing and telling! Yep, House got himself some S-E-X (or so he claims), and he’s not shy about discussing it. What was the hookup, and what does he blab? Find out what our set sources tell us exclusively… According to sources, in an upcoming episode, our man House (Hugh Laurie) stands near the front entrance of Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital and declares (loudly) to everyone in earshot that he’s slept with Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein)! Yep, the cad announces to everyone at work he’s hooking up with his boss! Now, he could be lying, and he’s definitely being a bastard. But still, after five years of shameless flirting, it seems that Huddy have finally sealed the deal! Pretty exciting, yes? Are you stoked that House and Cuddy are finally doing it? Post in the comments! Source: Kristin on E!Online

Is it true that someone is leaving House at the end of the season?If so, I’d love to know who, or at least get a few hints. MATT: Yeah, a lot of people have been playing catch-up ever since Katie Jacobs told me (back in January) that House’s team will be down a person come season’s end. Jacobs also said that the events of the finale, like last year’s, will have a profound impact on House himself…. In light of recent death/suicide rumors — I can foresee a future where the increasingly put-upon Taub takes his own life, right in House’s office. Hmm, might that make Dr. Nasty’s demeanor less mean? Source: TV Guide Online

Next Monday’s episode (Locked In, March 30) has Mos Def playing a patient with locked-in syndrome, which means he’s paralyzed and can only communicate by blinking, but he understands everything going on around him. The ep is told from the perspective of his character’s thoughts. (Watch With Kristin)

Hugh Laurie took a break from his day job on the hit series House and got animated in the box-office hit Monsters vs. Aliens.

After revealing the details of his stint as a mad scientist cockroach in the animated family film, the actor discusses the possibility of a death at the end of this season of House — and what fans can expect from Dr. House.

Q: How did you get that demented mad scientist laugh down?
A: I don’t really practice that. I just do that when the mood takes me. It’s a little bit unpleasant for people I work with.

Q: In this role, they’d probably just step on you.
A: But that’s not good enough. I will survive a stepping. They are pretty much indestructible. They can survive for three, four months. I’ve researched cockroaches, by the way.

Q: I can tell.
A: I don’t just walk in and play a role, I do my homework. Three or four months without food and a couple of months without water, extremes of temperature, extremes of everything, extremes of stepping on. The great thing about doing this is it was such an escape. I got to spend a day in a completely different world that had nothing to do with House. That was a wonderful thing, I mean I love doing House, don’t get me wrong. I love the people I work with, they are a fantastic bunch, but, every now and then a change is not a bad thing.

Q: The Internet rumors on House are kind of crazy.
A: I’ve heard.

Q: Wherever you go now, you hear that someone is going to die at the end of the season.
A: Yes, but on every show. There are people dying on every show. Yeah, death is all around us.

Q: I know you’re not going to reveal who is going to die…
A: Can’t. If I could reveal it to anybody, I would reveal it to you. But I can’t.

Q: But I need to know one thing, was it something House said?
A: I’ve even got to be careful how I answer that because that is possibly true. One of the pieces of self-examination that House has to go through is the part that he played in this…event. Let me put it that way. I can go no further. But you’re right, there is something in that. I can tell you that it’s quite something. The last six shows are very, very ambitious, and we are going out on a limb here. House has problems of his own. And they’re big problems.

Major House Death Is Coming

My question is about the death on House. I was wondering if it’s the same “suicide in a major show” that your competition Ausiello just told us about? As House himself would tell you, “Correlation does not imply causation.” We have never and will never collude with our frenemies on a story. We may post a story at the same time as another outlet, but that does not necessarily mean it’s about the same show or situation. Well, sometimes it isn’t, and sometimes it is, but don’t ever take it for granted either way.

Joseph Viles/FOX, Timothy White/FO

A main character will die this season. This is the news I’m now hearing from reliable sources on House, that one of the castmembers will be written out before the current season ends. And trust me, it will shock the pants off of you. (Assuming you wear pants.) So who will it be? Obviously, we can’t come right out and report who will die because that would spoil a major plot point that will serve as the climax of the season. And honestly, it is far too good to spoil!

However, I can tell you:

It’s not the most likely candidate—not by a long shot.

It’s not someone who has been rumored to be leaving.

It is someone who will shock you.

How it happens will take you completely by surprise.

There is no lead-up to this death, it just…happens.

As House bossKatie Jacobs told E!Online recently: “I think our cast will look pretty much the same next season.” The emphasis there is on pretty much, and it’s my understanding that it will be just one castmember to leave. Everyone else will be back in the fall. Now you know what comes next, right? You all get to do your best sleuthing to figure out which character is getting killed off…then keep watching House on Fox on Monday nights to see how totally wrong you are.

It may be the end of March in your world and mine, but in the CRUniverse, it’s the end of summer and school is almost back in session. Casey’s Washington internship has run its course, Rusty’s camp counseling days have drawn to a close and the Cartwright kids are heading back to campus tonight. In preparation for “Greek“‘s return, Korbi spent some time with show creator and lover of pop culture, Mr. Sean Smith, who gave me the inside word on what’s going down in this next cycle of episodes. It is because of him that I can answer some of your reader questions right this minute…

Korbi, Is it true that Janeane Garofalo is doing an episode of “Greek”?
It is. “Greek” is taking us into the classroom at Cyprus Roades this semester and it is there that we’ll find Ms. Garofalo. Playing a Women Studies professor, she crosses paths with Casey, who may be looking to develop more of a feminist perspective… and Cappie, who is definitely just looking to develop more female relationships. “It’s his intention of course to go in and study the women as opposed to partaking of Women Studies,” Sean Smith laughed. “[Janeane] is just hysterical and she calls him out the second she sees him. Something to the effect of, every semester there’s some guy who comes into this class and he fails academically and otherwise. Good luck!”

Any chance of Jen K. coming back?
I don’t think so. Sean said the ghost of Jen K. is behind Rusty. “Greek” will introduce a new transfer student for Rusty to pursue. He meets her in art history class and she presents him with quite a challenge. It’s love at first site for our little guy. But she’s got her eye on someone else. Watch the clip below to find out who… yes, it’s CRU’s freshman football recruit Andy, played by Jesse McCartney.

How many “Greek” episodes are we getting this season?
12. We’ll be halfway through the first semester of Casey’s senior year/Rusty’s sophomore year when this cycle ends.

When will Cappie and Casey get back together?
TBD, my friend. TBD. That’s what Sean told me when I asked him if we could see Cap and Case reunited romantically long before the series ends. For now, Casey and Max are still very much in love. But declining his Cal Tech grant to be with her may not have been the best idea. There are bad days ahead for them and Cappie will be the guy she turns to for advice. “They kind of become each other’s go-to people,” Sean explained. “I felt it was necessary to push their relationship a little more, which we do in this cycle. There’s definitely advancement.”

Do you think it would be possible for Evan and Cappie to ever call a truce of sorts? Or has there just been too much animosity built up over the years for them to just forgive and forget?
Actually, Casey isn’t the only person turning to Cap for help. When Evan’s brother Patrick (Robert Hoffman) shows up at CRU this season, he puts Ev in a position where he really needs someone to talk to. Of course, longtime fans know that he and Cappie have a history, so Cap kind of understands what Evan is dealing with better than any of the other kids do. “I think there’s a thaw [between them],” Sean said. “You know, I love their rapport and the cattiness of it. I don’t want to see them become like best buds, because then it’d just be boring. But there’s less contentiousness between them. It’s not quite as antagonistic as it was before.”

I want Cappie and Rebecca on “Greek” to get back together.
Don’t think that’s in the cards, but they will remain friends… even though one of them is going to steal a potential love interest from the other. Mhmm.

I’m hoping we haven’t seen the last of Tegan. Any word on Charisma Carpenter returning to “Greek”?
We won’t see Charisma in this batch of episodes, but that doesn’t mean she’s done with the show. There’s always next cycle. We will, however, meet a few other ZBZ alums, including Frannie’s big sis who comes back to CRU for her wedding — Sean said she’s hysterical — and another former sister who will catch the eye of two of “Greek”‘s main characters… the two I was just talking about.

Any good “Greek” guest stars coming up?
Besides Janeane Garofalo? Helen Slater (aka Supergirl) is playing a visiting professor and Dean Bowman (aka Cameron Frye, aka Alan Ruck) will pop up in the most surprising of ways. P.S. Ashleigh apparently has a crush on him.

Will Calvin get together with someone new this season on “Greek”?
Indeed. And so will Ashleigh. And so will Dale!

I’m not a fan of Max, but I did enjoy how Cappie and Dale bonded over his lameness. Are we gonna see more Cap n’ Dale this season?
Apparently Cap and Dale are much closer than we’ve ever realized…

The summer has flashed by and school’s back in session when ABC Family’s recently renewedGreek resumes its second season this Monday at 8 pm/ET.

What’s new with the gals and guys? For one, fresh off her D.C. internship, Casey’s looking to make a drastic change in her collegiate life.

“She wants to buckle down and really start studying,” Spencer Grammer previews in this video Q&A. “She decides to take less of a stand [at the sorority] and develop into her own person.”

Grammer talks about whether castmate Michael Rady’s increasingly busy dance card means that Casey’s romance with Max is 100-percent over. Also, she shares a peek at how Frannie’s shocking bid to start up her own sorority is, well, far easier said than done.

Next, Spencer confirms that one of the ZBZ gals will have a crisis of sexuality, “and Casey might placate that in a fun, playful way.” The storyline, she teases, “will be an audience-pleaser for everyone.” And how.

The sit-down continues with Grammer raving about new addition Jesse McCartney and teasing how Casey and Cappie’s push-me/pull-you romance will “come to a head in the season finale.”

Last but far from least, I trot out Grammer’s sexy new lad-mag photo, which she claims she did all in the name of “trying to pull in a new audience” for Greek. Dare say, it just might work.

Kaitlyn in West Hollywood: Greek returns tonight, any scoop? Does Jesse McCartney stick around for a while?Jesse McCartney will only be hanging out on Greek for six episodes, but that’s just enough time for him to choose a frat. Jesse teases, “Calvin is trying to get me to join the Omega Chi fraternity. Then there is Rusty, who is trying to get me to join Kappa Tau. It’s definitely safe to say it’s between those two. He goes where you probably don’t expect him to go.” Which house do you think? Source: Kristin on E!Online

Any scoop on Jesse McCartney’s role on Greek?
Andy (Jesse McCartney) and Rusty are going toe-to-toe. They are both going after the same girl, Jordan, but only one will be victorious! Speaking of stealing women, Evan and Rebecca are spending plenty of quality time together this season, including a late-night break-in to get Rebecca’s car out of lockup.

When is Greekcoming back and can you tell me if Casey and Cappie will be together?
March 30th. And no, they won’t be together. Max is sticking around for the season. But the flame between Casey and Cappie is still lit and we’ll see evidence of that in the months to come. Also, we know the Max thing can’t last forever, since Michael Rady (the actor who plays him) has joined the CW’s Melrose Place remake as a regular. Source: Zap2It’s Korbi TV

Can you tell me some info about what will happen during next season’s Greek?
MATT: Hopefully you caught my recent Q&A with Scott Michael Foster (no relation to Chad Michael Murray), who revealed some of what’s to come for Cappie. Also see if this floats your boat: Casey’s other ex, Evan, has a big story ahead of him — and he’s getting an older brother, to be played by Step Up 2 stud Robert Hoffman. Source: TV Guide

“We’ll finally be out of Rusty’s freshman year,” reveals Greek creator Sean Smith of season 2.5, which kicks off next March. “When we return, it’s the fall of his second year and Casey and the upperclassmen’s fourth. It’ll be a whole new year, with rush (like the pilot) all over again, new pledges, new fun!” And what about Dale? “He’ll definitely be around,” says Smith. “Only this year he’s living in Calhoun Hall as Rusty moves into the Kappa Tau house.” And just like God said in the finale, Rusty and Dale will be roommates again. But with a twist. And a funny one at that. Source: Ausiello Files

Episode 2.11: Take Me Home, Cyprus-Rhodes Airdate: March 30, 2009

After her summer internship, Casey returns to campus with secret plans to move out of the ZBZ house. However she fears hurting Ashleigh at a time when she needs her most, as the drama with Frannie’s new sorority is heating up, causing Ashleigh to enlist a secret spy – a spy that Casey isn’t sure can truly be trusted. Meanwhile Calvin introduces his high school friend and new Cyprus-Rhodes freshman Andy (Jesse McCartney) to Rusty, who takes an instant liking to him and encourages Andy to join KT. But Andy gets locked in an epic battle for brotherhood, as Evan, upon seeing just how in demand Andy is on campus, wants him join Omega Chi. What lengths will Calvin and Rusty go to to win Andy’s pledge? Having spent his summer as a camp counselor, alongside guest star Ken Marino, Rusty begins his sophomore year on campus by finally moving into the Kappa Tau house. However, he struggles to reconcile how he will balance the pressures of his engineering major with living in the fraternity. Source:ABC Family

Episode 2.12: From Rushing With Love Airdate: April 6, 2009

Now a sophomore, Rusty gets to participate in Rush Week for the first time and he is determined to land Andy as a pledge for Kappa Tau, but Calvin feels the pressure from Evan to get Andy to pledge Omega Chi. Who will prevail in the battle for the big man on campus? Ashleigh and Casey start to doubt Rebecca’s “mole” abilities and begin to question whether she’s actually a double-agent for Frannie’s new sorority when the ZBZ girls’ rush week Project Runway fashion skit is successfully sabotaged by Frannie. Source:ABC Family

Episode 2.13: Engendered Species Airdate: April 13, 2009

When Casey discovers that Cappie is taking the same women’s studies class — taught by Professor Freeman (Janeane Garofalo) — she knows that it will complicate her relationship with Max. As a result, Casey decides to enlist the help of her new professor to help Max and Cappie get along. Will her plan work? Meanwhile, Rusty starts his first elective class in Art History, and as a lucky bonus meets a pretty new transfer student, Jordan (Johanna Braddy). Although he’s nervous about talking to her, he finds the courage to invite her to a KT party. But the night of the party he learns that some guys have all the luck, namely the new KT pledge, Andy. At the ZBZ house, Ashleigh hires a new hasher, Fisher (Andrew J. West), who draws a lot of attention from the sisters of ZBZ — but Fisher only has eyes for Ashleigh. Source:ABC Family

Please tell me that Peyton and Baby Leyton will be all right on One Tree Hill!
A baby will be born on the One Tree Hill finale, but whether baby and/or Peyton survive is another question. Source: Kristin on E!Online

3/30 New ‘Letting Go’

Julian makes Brooke a startling offer. Lucas brings Nathan and Jamie to an important place from his past, while Peyton prepares for the future. Sam and Jack (guest star Evan Peters) take a stand against the principal who fired Haley. Skills takes Mouth on a road trip to get his mind off Millie.

Can you shed any light on this hectic One Tree Hill situation?
Despite Chad Michael Murray‘s claim that, “They haven’t even called me up to say, ‘Hey we want you back…nothing,’ ” CMM’s people are in negotiations with the One Tree Hill studio. Sounds like we can all brace ourselves for a cliffhanger ending to season six. Source: Kristin on E!Online

The rumblings about Chad Michael Murray leaving One Tree Hill are not surprising. But please tell me the CW is not foolish enough to let Hilarie Burton leave, too.MATT: What if I told you that perhaps neither actor is leaving? A setsider tells the Buzz that Tree Hill producers seem to be allowing for such an outcome, seeing as the season finale script makes no reference to Lucas and/or Peyton … and/or their soon-to-arrive baby/babies … leaving town. Source: TV Guide Online

Anything new on Nick Lachey’s “One Tree Hill” episode?
Yes. It’s not just an episode, it’s now an arc. The former newlywed was originally scheduled to appear just once, but I hear show creator Mark Schwahn asked Nick to stick around an extra week and he agreed. Source:Zap2It’s Korbi TV

Is ‘One Tree Hill’s’ Chad Michael Murray just holding out for more cash?

By now, all web savvy “One Tree Hill” fans have seen the YouTube video shot by a fellow viewer in which series star Chad Michael Murray claims that he’s not returning to the show next year because “they don’t want me… they wanna save money.” If not, you can watch it below. In the video, Chad also encourages fans to go online to “blog and be pissed off that they don’t want me back.” The “they” he refers to is of course assumed to be the network, the studio and/or the series’ producers. This comes less than a month after CMM’s costar Hilarie Burton posted her own cryptic online clip which seemed to confirm that she too will be absent from “One Tree Hill”‘s seventh season. The notion that Murray and Burton are not a lock for the show next year is no surprise to those who have been following the saga. Even before the aforementioned videos were posted, rumors of their departure ran rampant across the web. However, sources close to “One Tree Hill” say the stars’ situation is not settled as of now. The network and studio have declined to comment on any of the Murray/Burton drama, but insiders tell me negotiations with Hilarie and Chad are still ongoing and that the video below is just another example of an actor reaching out to the press with the hope of gaining additional bargaining power. So, is that what this is all about? The Benjamins? Source:Zap2It’s Korbi TV

Everyone is talking about the super fast wedding that’s going to happen on Grey’s Anatomy in the Season Finale, and they are also presuming it’s between Meritdith ans Derek. Michael Ausiello was even very convinced by it. I am not, it’s a surprise and it’s quick, let’s take a poll who would need to get married quickly on Grey’s, probably someone who doesn’t have much time to live, right? I am betting it’s an Alex and Izzie wedding! Izzie never had closure with Dennis concerning marriage and maybe, Alex wants to give her that with their relationship, much more plausible, reasonable and fitting with the storyline. Who do think is getting married?

Over at Grey’s, series creator Shonda Rhimes has already confirmed that one of the show’s couples will tie the knot later this season, and there’s increasingly loud buzz that the event will take place on May 7, during the show’s landmark 100th episode, appropriately titled “Beautiful Day.” Adding to the speculation: The episode will feature a minister. The bigger question than when it will happen, of course, is who is walking down the aisle? One source close to Grey’s says Derek and Meredith will finally take the plunge — something a show spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny. Keep in mind, Rhimes said viewers would be surprised by the wedding. What would be so surprising about a Mer-Der ceremony? Ironically, the speed with which it would have taken place. Sure, the star-crossed lovers have been dating for five years, but a May 7 wedding would make for a lightning-fast, seven-week engagement (that’s assuming Mer accepts Der’s elevator proposal this Thursday, and all indications are that she will). “Shonda is probably counting on fans thinking a Der-Mer engagement would be just as drawn out as their courtship,” speculates one Grey’s insider. “So to marry them off seven weeks after getting engaged would certainly qualify as a surprise.” — Source:The Ausiello Files

Question: Do you have any awesome scoop on what’s ahead on Grey’s Anatomy?
Ausiello: The wedding taking place in the 100th episode on May 7? It’s not Mer-Der after all! The plot thickens! Source:The Ausiello Files

Question: Any news on whether T.R. Knight will get a story this season on Grey’s Anatomy?
Ausiello: Remember me telling you last month about a proposed storyline that would find George developing an interest in Owen’s specialty as a military/trauma doc? You know, the one ABC insisted had been scrapped and replaced with something even better? Well, my colleague, Jennifer Armstrong, just spoke to Kevin McKidd, and the new story sounds a lot like the old one. “Hunt [will start to] see something in George that no one else has,” McKidd revealed. “There’s an event that happens and [Hunt] realizes there’s a lot more to him… that he has a set of skills that maybe he isn’t even aware of. And Hunt starts to mentor him in a way that gets really interesting.” Translation: My initial theory about Shonda Rhimes having George join the military and go off to Iraq as a way of accommodating Knight’s departure is so happening. Right? Source:The Ausiello Files

Question: Will Cristina and Owen hit the sheets anytime soon on Grey’s Anatomy?
Ausiello: Let’s ask Kevin McKidd. “A lot happens this week,” he said. “I think they’ve drawn that one out a lot, and I know people are getting frustrated. I think it’s good because they’ve really connected on a mental and emotional level. And now I think it’s time they connect physically.” (Oh, they’re going to connect physically, alright.) Source:The Ausiello Files

Will Owen’s PTSD get worse before it gets better? It sure looks that way. As Kevin McKidd shares in Part 1 of his TVGuide.com video Q&A, the haunted Dr. Hunt once again — and to an even scarier degree — misdirects a nightmare at his lady love, Cristina, in this Thursday’s episode of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Previewing this latest dark moment, McKidd tells TVGuide.com, “It’s going to become a catalyst for him to really sort his stuff out and become whole again. He really loves [Cristina] and wants to make things good for her, and not to be this burden.” In tackling such tricky fare, McKidd declares himself “lucky” to have Sandra Oh as a scene partner, saying, “She’s such a committed artist.” McKidd also gives kudos to Grey’s for journeying down this rocky road with his war vet. “Post-traumatic stress has a stigma attached to it, so I think it’s great that the show is telling this story properly and exploring it and getting dirty with it,” he says. McKidd goes on to share how the depths of Owen’s despair — and the advice of a certain peer — will lead him to seek help from Dr. Wyatt, the psychiatrist played by Amy Madigan. “It’s hard for him,” notes the actor, “because he’s not the most verbal guy … but they work through a lot of stuff.” Might it eventually lead to lighter moments for Owen and Cristina? Get McKidd’s answer at the 3:00 mark.

Question: Any Smallville finale spoilers that don’t involve the Grim Reaper? Ausiello: The fight scene between Doomsday and Clark is going to be big. One might even call it ginormous. Source:The Ausiello Files

3/26 New ‘Hex’

At Chloe’s birthday party, a mysterious magician named Zatanna (guest star Serinda Swan) grants Chloe’s wish to be more like Lois by switching the two into each other’s bodies. Zatanna searches for her father’s book of spells so she can conjure up his spirit, but not before also granting Clark his deepest wish.

Preview of ‘Smallville’ 8.17: Chloe Gets Her Wish Granted

A magician attending Chloe’s birthday approves her wish to live like Lois, all new on ‘Smallville’ episode ‘Hex’.

The CW has given the HQ trailer of next week’s “Smallville“. Titled “Hex”, the preview is highlighting on what happen in the episode “Hex” which is directed by Tom Welling himself and will air on March 26. It includes the origin of Clark’s existence and why he has to be up against Davis. At Chloe’s birthday party, a mysterious magician named Zatanna (guest star Serinda Swan) grants Chloe’s wish to be more like Lois and switches the two into each other’s bodies. Zatanna searches for her father’s book of spells so she can conjure up his spirit but not before also granting Clark his deepest wish. Cassidy Freeman who plays Tess told E!, “I think it’s really interesting what they’re doing with Chloe. You have this show that has been on for so long, and you have this character that’s not really in the mythos and has had to create her own self. You can do anything with her and that’s kind of what they’re doing.”

John Schneider, Annette O’Toole, and John Glover will appear via flashback in the April 2 episode, which delves into Davis’ backstory. (Michael Ausiello)

Thanks to Zantanna (Serinda Swan), Chloe and Lois are going to be switching bodies in Hex. (Watch With Kristin)

Meteor freaks start dying in Metropolis, but don’t be so quick to think Doomsday is the culprit. (Watch With Kristin)

Hex – Airing March 26, 2009 At Chloe’s birthday party, a mysterious magician named Zatanna (guest star Serinda Swan) grants Chloe’s wish to be more like Lois and switches the two into each other’s bodies. Zatanna searches for her father’s book of spells so she can conjure up his spirit but not before also granting Clark his deepest wish. (The CW)

Eternal – Airing April 2, 2009 Tess tries to kill Davis by blowing up his truck. However, after he escapes, she realizes she needs help to destroy him and turns to Clark. Tess reveals Davis’ secret childhood with the Luthors and hints that she knows Clark’s true identity. Meanwhile, Davis runs to Chloe for help. (The CW)

Smallville Preview: Serinda Swan Has “Hex” Appeal as Zatanna

This Thursday, Zatanna works her magic on the CW’s Smallville, and at least one person’s life might never be the same as a result. What brings the DC Comics character to town? Aside from granting Chloe a birthday wish, what other tricks does Ms. Z. have up her sleeve? And which of Smallville’s eligible gents is she hot to cast a sexy spell on? Guest star Serinda Swan shared with us a few of her secrets.

TVGuide.com: So, “Serinda Swan” — a name as pretty as the actress who wears it.
Serinda Swan: Aw, thank you very much! I had a thespian and a hippie for parents, so they came up with unique names for my sister [Ariel] and I. A “serinda” is an ancient Tibetan musical instrument, like a flute.

TVGuide.com: When you landed this Smallville role, did you immediately start Googling to see what Zatanna looks like and what she’s all about?
Swan: Only after I found out that I was Zatanna; I originally auditioned for “Cassie,” which was the character’s cover name. They wanted to keep this very hush-hush. It wasn’t until my agent got a call from someone at TVGuide.com offering their congratulations….

TVGuide.com: That was me, kiddo. That was me.
Swan: I was thinking it was you! So yeah, then I Wikipedia’d it and Googled it and read her backstory. That’s when the excitement started.

TVGuide.com: Smallville fans can be very discerning, yet when you were cast, I saw barely any squawking. It was by and large, “She’s perfect.”
Swan: And I was so happy for that. A lot of the stuff I’ve done hasn’t come out yet, so there was some, “She looks the part, but can she act?” That put a lot of pressure on me to make sure I nailed the character. So when I did go in [for the audition], I actually spoke [Zatanna’s spells] backwards. I reversed the sound, put it on my iPod and listened to it right before I had to say my lines, so that when the comic book enthusiasts reverse it on their computers — which I know they’ll do — it’s actually intelligible.

TVGuide.com: Smallville was very faithful to Zatanna’s costume — and fishnets are even in style now!
Swan: Yeah! I’m really happy with how accurate wardrobe was, from the top hat to the button-up tuxedo outfit to the fishnets, the boots….

TVGuide.com: See, her tuxedo always throws me. My sons have every super hero action figure, but they never played with Zatanna — and I suspect it’s because she’s so “formal.”
Swan: She is quite formal. They spice her up a bit in some of the other scenes where she gets to wear more “regular” clothing, but always with a magical twist to it.

TVGuide.com: Before Zatanna pulls off the Chloe-Lois body swap, do we get any hint that she has mad magic skills?
Swan: Well, the very first thing she does is perform one of her more magical spells as opposed to an illusion, so right off the bat you get that she is more of a trickster and a trouble-maker than a regular party magician.

TVGuide.com: Does Chloe’s experience get filed under: “Be careful what you wish for”?
Swan: Absolutely. [Laughs] But at the same time Zatanna thinks she’s being helpful. She has a little twinkle in her eye because she knows what’s going to happen. Most people are not careful what they wish for.

TVGuide.com: Erica Durance plays Chloe for much of the episode?
Swan: Yes, and it’s such a blast. It was so much fun watching that.

TVGuide.com: In addition to Chloe’s wish, I understand Clark has one, too….
Swan: Yes, he does — and it gets him into a bit of trouble, because it’s not a regular wish. It’s something that kind of turns him upside-down. But I can’t give away what it is!

TVGuide.com: Does Zatanna flirt with Clark at all?
Swan: She flirts more with Oliver. She’s a pretty flirtatious girl, so she gets in his face and tries to use her “other” skills on him. But she does try to work her magic on Clark as well.

TVGuide.com: There’s this one photo where Zatanna is walking away from a tied-up Oliver. What did he ever do to her?
Swan: Well, I’m trying to find my father’s spell book, and Oliver has something to do with where it’s hidden…

TVGuide.com: Of course he does.
Swan: Of course he does. So when I discover that, that’s what I do to him. Don’t mess with me!

TVGuide.com: Why does Zatanna need her father’s book? To try to raise Zatara from the dead?
Swan: Yes, that’s her whole goal. He died protecting her, as it says in the comics, and she feels that she can’t carry out the life that he could have. She feels she should trade her life in for his, so he can come back and do what he was meant to do.

TVGuide.com: Zatanna is also known to mix it up with Batman. Is there any reference to Bruce Wayne here, à la he recommended her as party entertainment?
Swan: No, this is more about her beginnings. She doesn’t even know all of her powers yet, until she gets her father’s book. There’s a line where she says she was only able to look at the book once, and that’s where she got her one spell, to grant wishes.

TVGuide.com: Is the door left open for Zatanna to return?
Swan: The door is left wide open, so fingers crossed! I’d love to come back. I know that she has quite a relationship with Clark, later on in her story, so I’d love to see that develop into an episode.

3/26 New ‘It’s a Terrible Life’

Dean and Sam are living very normal and separate lives. Dean is a corporate man who enjoys health drinks and listens to news radio vs. rock stations. He works at a company called Sandover Bridge & Iron Company alongside Sam who is in Tech Support. It seems as if the two do not know each other. However, after coworkers start committing suicide at an alarming rate, the two find themselves working side by side to solve the murders.

New Clips of ‘Supernatural’ 4.17: It’s a Terrible Life

Three ‘Supernatural’ clips start from Dean and Sam’s first meeting as strangers to them working together in investigating murders.

Known from the preview, “Supernatural” will take on a laid back episode called “It’s a Terrible Life”, presenting an alternative in Sam and Dean’s lives should they become non-hunters. Three clips taken from the March 26 episode have been released as a sneak peek..

In their alternate lives, Dean is a corporate man who enjoys health drinks and listens to news radio vs. rock stations. He works at a company called Sandover Bridge & Iron Company alongside Sam who is in Tech Support. The two meet in an elevator and Sam asks Dean whether they know each other. They don’t. Then the curious Sam asks Dean the next time they meet, whether Dean believes in ghost.

It seems as if the two do not know each other but after co-workers start committing suicide at an alarming rate, the two find themselves working side by side to solve the murders.

Misha Collins talking about an upcoming episode, “We just shot an episode where we meet the man who Castiel possessed—the body that he’s in—and that was a lot of fun for me to shoot, playing a different character. I think that’s episode 20.” (Watch With Kristin)

It’s a Terrible Life – Airing March 26, 2009
Dean and Sam are living very normal and separate lives. Dean is a corporate man who enjoys health drinks and listens to news radio vs. rock stations. He works at a company called Sandover Bridge & Iron Company alongside Sam who is in Tech Support. It seems as if the two do not know each other. However, after co-workers start committing suicide at an alarming rate, the two find themselves working side by side to solve the murders. (The CW)

The Monster at the End of This Book – Airing April 2, 2009
Sam and Dean are shocked to discover a series of comic books titled “Supernatural” that accurately detail their lives as demon hunters. They track down the writer, Carver Edlund (guest star Rob Benedict), who explains he has visions of the brothers that he then turns into comic books. Chuck reveals that Lilith (guest star Katherine Boecher) is coming and she has a plan for Sam. (The CW)

A.J. Buckley Talks of Supernatural Afterlife

This week, fans of A.J. Buckley are due for double their pleasure. In addition to catching the actor on CBS’ CSI: NY (where he plays lab tech Adam Ross), Buckley will reprise his role as one of Supernatural‘s “Ghostfacers,” the CW series’ version of Ghost Hunters.

TVGuide.com: Turning to your side gig: How do the “Ghostfacers” figure into this week’s Supernatural, seeing as how Sam and Dean are living these sorts of alternate lives?
Buckley: It’s because the Ghostfacers are the real deal, the tour guides of the spirit world! [Laughs] No, it actually is really nice how they bring it together. Dean and Sam are sort of lost and when in doubt, who do you call? You lean on Ed and Harry, the two most reliable ghost hunters in all of ghost-hunterdom.

TVGuide.com: Is it up to you to bring Sam and Dean back to reality?
Buckley: I wouldn’t say it’s up to us; we’re basically the goofy version of a shaman. We’re there for what we think are the right reasons, but Ed and Harry and Sam and Dean never see eye-to-eye.

TVGuide.com: We asked TV’s actual Ghost Hunters about you, and they are definitely fans.
Buckley: Are they really? Before we shoot Supernatural, we’ll watch their shows. [Sci Fi Channel’s] Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters are the shows we watch.

TVGuide.com: This episode was written by Sera Gamble, versus Ben Edlund, who penned the Ghostfacers’ debut. Did that give it any different a feel, since Sera doesn’t usually do Supernatural‘s lighter episodes?
Buckley: The great thing about what [series creator Eric] Kripke allows the Ghostfacers to do is they’ll always write a great set-up for us, and then we get to “play.” Sera wrote really great stuff for us, and then the director let us add “Ghostfacer flavor” to that, by riffing and improvising. [Co-executive producer] Phil [Sgriccia, who directed the Ghostfacers video within the episode] was crying with laughter so loudly that it ruined the scene. I’m pretty lucky to work on both CSI: NY and Supernatural. Not bad gigs!

‘Samantha Who?’: What to expect now that she’s back

It’s been so long since we last saw a fresh episode of “Samantha Who?” — almost four months in fact — that not only do you and I not remember what Christina Applegate‘s character was up to, neither does she.

“Oh, gosh, I don’t even know, who was she dating last?,” Applegate wondered aloud when I asked her about Sam’s romantic prospects in the next six episodes, which start airing this evening.

Still, it didn’t take long for the name Todd (Barry Watson) to come up. “Todd and Sam are living together and spending a lot of time together now. So we’re trying to figure out who we are and what our feelings are for each other,” she explained.

So, what are their feelings? Well, Todd’s way into her. But Samantha’s pretty clueless, so don’t expect a rekindling anytime soon, even if Christina does believe Todd’s the one for Sam. “I think people like to see that Sam and Diane sort of thing play out,” she told me (pretty sure Sam is actually Diane in this analogy).

As for the show’s supporting players, Dena (Melissa McCarthy) is not only in a committed relationship right now, but she’s kind of got one on the side as well. And Andrea (Jennifer Esposito) has a steady man too… though their relationship is destined for failure. Her dude is sticking around for a bit though, and it should be fun to watch. Tune in tonight and you’ll get why…

Bruce in Pasadena, Calif.: Are Samantha Who?‘s Samantha and Todd ever going to see the light that they should be together?
In the March 26 episode, Samantha and Todd do go out on a date, but before you get too excited, it’s a double date to help out BFF Andrea, who is afraid to go out with her text-only BF Tony Dale (McKinley Freeman) alone. Though Sam doesn’t view it as a date date, Todd has grown more uneasy about his real feelings for her. Samantha finally realizes the two need to talk about his feelings for her and her feelings about his feelings for her. Confused? So is she. Without giving the ending away, there is a twist at the end that might just put this pair back at square one.

Christina Applegate Dishes on Samantha Who?‘s Unforgettable Return

Christina Applegate had the kind of 2008 she might want to forget, including the death of her ex-boyfriend and a brave fight with breast cancer. But talking to TVGuide.com about Samantha Who?‘s return from a long winter break (ABC, Thursday, 8:30 pm) the former Kelly Bundy was all spring and sunshine. She told us about Samantha’s lingering issues with amnesia, a fresh Winston Funk (Billy Zane), and what’s going on with Samantha and Todd (Barry Watson).

TVGuide.com:After the terrible year you had, how happy were you to get to go back to work and mix it up with your cast mates?
Christina Applegate: I really missed them. I miss them now and I can’t believe if we go in for a third season it won’t be for another five months. It’s hard. Those are my friends now. I really miss being around them. It was great to finally go back after everything and put my mind into something else and go back to my show.

TVGuide.com: What can we look forward to this season?
Applegate: There’s a lot of changes in everyone’s lives, actually. We decided to concentrate on giving everyone else a life outside of Samantha. And so there’s a lot of scenes I’m not in where the girls are together. And that I really like to watch because you really want to see who these people are. … There’s a new job in store for Samantha — kind of a new, old job. She ends up going back and working at Chapman and Funk, in a different capacity.

TVGuide.com: With someone new playing Funk.
Applegate: Fortunately and unfortunately, we lost Timothy Olyphant as our Winston Funk, who he played in our first season, because he’s doing Damages.

TVGuide.com: Fortunately because he’s replaced by Billy Zane. Is there any witty acknowledgment of that, like “Oh, Winston, you look different today?” Hopefully wittier than that…
Applegate: No, you know what, she has amnesia, so who knows, she doesn’t know really. I think they both have a very similar quality so I don’t think people will be too thrown off-course. Since it was a year-and-a half-ago. We’re hoping they don’t really remember. [Laughs.]

TVGuide.com: In the return episode, Todd seems to be getting serious feelings for Samantha again and she has to decide what to do about that.
Applegate: With those two there’s always this push-and-pull, push-and-pull, push-and-pull kind of thing. I don’t know if they’re ever going to solve it… . There’s five more episodes that they may or may not show and there’s some really big things that happen in those with those two. I hope that we get a chance to show them. … We’re only scheduled to air six right now and we have eleven.

TVGuide.com: Oh shucks.
Applegate: Yeah, kinda shucks. So hopefully people will get to see those other five, because there’s some really cool stuff that happens.

Billy Zane Not Walking Down Memory Lane on Samantha Who

Billy Zane seems sometimes like a product of old Hollywood. His classic-movie star looks helped him land the role for which he remains best-known — Cal, Kate Winslet’s diabolical fiance in Titanic — as well as his starring role in 1996’s The Phantom, another period throwback. His new role on Samantha Who?lands him securely in the here and now, but the past lingers again: He’s playing Winston Funk, a character previously played by Timothy Olyphant, who departed to appear on Damages.

Zane’s found an easy way to deal with the ghosts of the past, however: ignoring them. To play Funk, for example, he didn’t even watch Olyphant’s take on the character. “It felt like doing any other role,” he told TVGuide.com. “They were pretty keen on wanting me to make it my own. I think they were kind of happy with where I was going with it so we just ran with it.”

The decision not to dwell fits in perfectly with Samantha Who?, a show built around Samantha (Christina Applegate) losing her memory and realizing the person she used to be wasn’t very nice. Funk was Samantha’s boss in her previous incarnation, and Zane’s episodes, which begin Thursday (ABC, 8:30 pm/ET), reunite them.

“She comes up with the notion of running his foundation and trying to bring him a little bit of a conscience,” Zane says. “He’s like, ‘Right. Helping. Sure. Whatever gets you in the house.'”

Zane plays Funk as a benevolent playboy — a perfect counter to Todd (Barry Watson), Samantha’s regular-guy love interest. “He’s pretty crafty — a wily businessman, and it bleeds over into his personal life, his leveraging. And while it’s, I’m sure, completely infuriating to her, it’s endearing because the end game is genuine.”

Whether viewers will get to see the end game this year — or ever — is up in the air: the show’s season finale is scheduled for April 30, but the cast has shot five additional episodes. They could air next season, if the show is picked up again.

Zane spoke to us on what happened to be the 97th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. He said the best legacy of the film has been the chance it’s given him to highlight charities like MylifE, which helps get South African teens off the street. He got involved with it while making his new film, Darfur.

After a career focused on film, Zane says one of his favorite parts of Samantha Who? is joining a well-oiled television machine — the kind that ruled in an earlier era.

“I think just my aesthetic harks back to that era,” he says. “I definitely have a soft spot for the nostalgia of this industry. I like the color palette, the lenses used, the style. I like the censorship, believe it or not. You had to play with implying and suggestion rather than blatant shock value.”